CBS News travel editor reacts to Washington D.C. plane crash

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — There has been concern about military traffic in the area of Ronald Reagan National Airport, according to CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg.

WIVB News 4 recently spoke with Greenberg following Wednesday night’s crash in Washington, D.C. Reagan National Airport has the most restricted airspace in the U.S. because of how close it is to the White House and the Capitol, but concerns have persisted ahead of Wednesday’s accident.

“In any accident investigation, the investigators have to painstakingly rule everything out before they can rule any one thing in. But at this stage of the investigation, there are certain things they already do know, and it all gets down to the airspace around Reagan,” Greenberg said.

Officials have described Wednesday night’s conditions as clear, but Greenberg said that doesn’t necessarily make air operations easy. He said the National Transportation Safety Board is looking at whether the military pilot may have been referring to another plane when the pilot told air traffic control that he made contact with a plane.

“When the tower radioed to the helicopter saying, be aware of traffic in the area, referring to that American Eagle flight, the military pilot responded, (saying) I’ve established contact with the traffic and I’m maintaining separation,” Greenberg said. “That should’ve meant everything was fine, and yet moments later the helicopter flies into the jet. What they’re beginning to look at now is when that pilot said he established contact with the traffic, was he looking at that plane or another plane.”

Greenberg said he suspects federal agencies will have to address the separation of aircraft at Reagan moving forward, especially at night.

Another issue Greenberg mentioned was how low the plane and helicopter were.

“It’s looking like pilot error,” Greenberg said. “Keep in mind there’s something called a TCAS — every plane has it — it’s called a Collision Avoidance System. It allows one plane to electronically talk to another plane. And if the planes determine these two systems, that they’re on a collision course, it will immediately give one pilot, climb right, and the other pilot, dive right, audio commands … that’s great, but it doesn’t work below 1,000 feet.”

Greenberg said it is still extremely safe to fly. The NTSB says fatal aviation accidents have decreased over the past 10 years.

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Jeff Preval is an award-winning anchor and reporter who joined the News 4 team in December 2021. See more of his work here.

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